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system, building organism and context, calls into question the unitary coordinating of a
series of features that go beyond energy efficiency aspects. Photovoltaic design must
therefore be recognised as a place of dialogue and mediation of different, and often
conflicting, levels of complexity and scales of observation and reference. In this dialectic
field, typical of the interdisciplinary character of the architectural project, frequently
emerges implications, at the same time, at landscaping scale, at construction or figural
detail scale, or the need to compromise between scientific parameters (efficiency, power,
quantity of energy ...) and interpretative aspects (aspects of aesthetics, visual, spatial
values...). Wanting to outline this complexity through a simplified grid of reading, in view
of performance design, it’s possible to recognize some classes of PV integrability
(Bonomo 2012).
The intervention on the existing, open an enormous complexity of disciplinary
approaches, ranging from themes of restoration to the recovery and performance retrofit,
depending on the type of building heritage considered. Outlining the issue of BiPV on the
existing, at a general level, it can be said that, like any transformative process, it must be
centered on the methodological path that starts from the recognition of values and,
through a critical assessment of the degree of
transformability
, leads to estimate the
adequacy of PV respect to building characters emerging from an evaluation of the
propensity to integration. In broad terms, we can recognize two fundamental areas of
intervention:
- On the ordinary "heritage", in a pretty "transformative" way, with the aim to introduce
new architectural and constructive quality, wherever these appear absent or
compromised (Fig.1).
Figure 1: SUVA building, Basel (CH), Herzog e De Meuron.
- On the heritage of historical value, and therefore acting in a purely "conservative" way,
in order to not alter the pre-existing quality, intervening in a compatible manner.
Some experimentation and several international researches demonstrate a high potential
for use of PV in the redevelopment of the historic areas and high integration capabilities
also in sensitive contexts. The study on how to introduce the BiPV in settlement
characterized by historical values, shows a first fundamental difference with ordinary
building heritage: these settlements are in fact notable expressions of sustainability
